Living Over the StoreMixed use row housing at Carlsberg

Assignment 1Faculty: Henning Thomsen

“For the sake of our cities and the cultures they represent, there is no more pressing task than the clarification of the conditions under which communicative space can be re-imagined (...) Connective elements discover correspondences between inside and outside spaces. They also set the stage for spatial communication.”David Leatherbarrow, The Sacrifice of Space, in Common Ground

- a critical reader, ed. David Chipperfield et. al., 2012

DIS Architecture + Design Fall 2013

Assignment 1: Living Over the Store

The ThemeIn the first assignment we will invesitgate the Danish housing tradition through the development of an urban typology, the shop/house. Some scholars claim this could be the missing link in todays search for livable, sustainable, mixed-use neighborhoods. American scholar Howard Davis, from Eugene, Oregon, describes the typology thus: “The shop/house is not defineable as a singular architectural type - a building configuration clearly defined in function or geometry. But they do exhibit common ideas. They are located in places where densities allow for commercial activity. They put commercial activity on the ground floor level, prioritize it over domestic functions, and ensure the privacy of family life relative to the public realm. They support the diversity of urban neighborhoods. And they exhibit flexibility of use over time. (...) They include buildings in which the family that works in the shop also lives in the building, and other buildings in which the dwellings are independent of the shops.”

The CommissionThe task is to design a single shop/house prototype, which when multiplied, can constitute a streetfront/courtyard structure. In general terms, the prototype will consist of a ground floor for commercial activities, and two further floors for residential activities. The basic plot dimensions will be 8 meters wide by 10 meters deep. The commercial spaces on the ground floor can be extended a further 4 meters on the courtyard side, creating the opportunity for a rooftop terrace in conncection with the residential activities above. This extension to the courtyard side can only take place every three basic modules, and when not carried out creates a back yard space on the ground floor of 4 by 10 meters for every basic module. The commercial activities on the ground floor can extend up to three modules in width (3 x 8 meters) as a maximum.The gound floor height must be 4-4.5 meters, while the residential floors must be 3-3.5 meters. All of this will be explained further in studio.

The SiteThe foundations of Carlsberg A/S - one of the world’s largest brewery groups - were laid in 1847 when brewer J C Jacobsen moved from his brewery in inner city Copenhagen to Valby Hill to start modern beer production there. The main advantage of the new location was that there was plenty of good water and that the storage cellars, which were a prerequisite for the making of the new beer type, dark lager, could be dug into the sloping side of Valby Hill. After close to 160 years of activity on the site, the Carlsberg Group in the beginning of the 2000’s decided to move the production out of the city and away from Copenhagen. The site, almost 33 hectars of land, was to be transformed and developed into a new part of Copenhagen. The ambition was to create a dense, sustainable and livable neighborhood. A masterplan competition was announced, that attracted 221 entries from all over the world. The winner turned out to be a local Copenhagen absed office, Entasis, who have since been responsible for the masterplan and the proces to create localplans for the future development of the site.

The PlotThe site as a whole is divided into 20 zones that structure both the future use as well as the scale and character of the new buildings being added to the site over time. Zone #13 is the plot for our assignment. It is one of the perimeter zones and is situated closest to the very coherent and sensitive neighborhood of Humleby (humle in english is hops, i.e. what you use to brew beer). Humleby was constructed from 1885-91 to designs by Frederik Bøttger, who also is responsible for the design of Kartoffelrækkerne. It is a highly sought after neighborhood now populated by middle to high income creative class families. When built, the three-storey row houses where for rental, but today they are all privately owned and quite expensive. One of the challenges of the assignment will be how to construct new row houses next to this very sensitive neighborhood and how to connect to the urban structure of Humleby.

Carlsberg, overview from masterplan proposal, Entasis

Carlsberg, View from Humleby, rendering, Entasis

Carlsberg, overview of area

DIS Architecture + Design Fall 2013

Assignment 1: Living Over the Store

ReadingsHoward Davis: Introduction - a quintessential urban building (pp. 1-11), in Living Over the Store - Architecture and Local Urban Life, 2012Dalibor Vesely: Ch. 1 Modernity, Fredom, and Destiny (pp. 11-43), in Architecture in the Age of Divided Representation, 2004Jan Gehl: Ch. 3.1 The lively city (pp. 63-91) + The city at eye level: designing the ground floor (pp. 240-241), in Cities for People, Washington 2010Ginetta Vedrickas: What’s it like living above the shop?, in The Independent (UK newspaper), May 23, 1998William JR Curtis: On Architectural Pedagogy, (Ideas of architecture and architectural ideas), from Architectural Review, 23 November 2012

Program RequirementsThere will be only indicatory program requirements. The sizes and scale must be worked out during the process.

Commercial floor: Simple layout for a basic commercial activity such as a small bar, restaurant, coffee shop, fashion shop, bicycle repair shop or the like.

Residential floors: Stairs, entrance, toilet(s), kitchen, living room(s), bed room(s), storage Additional program on the site Rooftop terrace, back yard space for commercial activity/residential activity

ProcessAssignment 1 is subdivided into two phases referred to as: concept development and architectural development. Throughout the project, working with analytical diagrams, sketch models and 3D representations will be emphasized. Please observe that there will be no on-screen/laptop reviews. All things you want to/need to discuss must be based on print-outs created before studio. Consideration of the following should be included in the studies:

Space: Detail:• Thematic reflections • Tectonics• Architectural idea • Facade• Programmatic and spatial organization • Materials and surfaces• Structural principles • Daylight and artificial light• Composition and scale• Circulation

Final Presentation Requirements:Context map 1:1000Architectural ideaInspirational material and reference photosDiagramsSite plan 1:200Floor plans 1:50Sections and elevations 1:50Model 1:503D representations, interior and exterior

Slip House, London, UK, by Carl Turner, 2013

Ground floor shops

Ground floor shop

Newhall Be, Harlow, UK, by Alison Brooks Architects 2013

DIS Architecture + Design Fall 2013

Assignment 1: Living Over the Store

The White Building, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

St Johns Bar and Restaurant, London, UK

Presentation FormatFinal drawings are to be presented on a DIS board, 120 cm x 120 cm. A name tag, provided by the AD office, must be placed along the top edge of the board for the submission to be counted as on time. All materials are due on Dec 11 at 22:00. A digital presentation is acceptable if material is uploaded to the server by submission deadline. If presenting digitally, the student must at least provide b/w prints of the scheme on board; projector requests must be made in the AD-office one week prior to the submission deadline.

Submission of AssignmentsAll presentation material must be supplemented with a digital submission of the presentation boards including photos of physical models. This requirement is necessary for grading and archival purposes for DIS, as well as documentation you will need for your own portfolio. Digital submission of this material must be uploaded to Blackboard before the final project deadline (typically 10:00 pm the night before presentations).

PlottingTo avoid plotter backup and breakdowns, we offer to plot your boards for you (anything larger than A3). If you would like the AD staff to plot your board, please submit it to AD Documents by 09:00 the day before the first day of presentations!Submit to the folder: AD_Documents>To_AD_Department>FA11>Asn1_Plot_Submissions>AD_Documents can be accessed in the following computer labs:V10-B35F24-406

File SizeNo file over 10 megabytes will be plotted! Files MUST be in PDF format! Please be aware that the maximum plot size 105cm x 150cm. Make sure your file size fits within these dimensions! Keep in mind the boards we provide for pin-up are 120cm x 120cm.

File Naming for SubmissionAll files submitted to DIS Forum or AD_Documents MUST follow the AD file naming system: Lastname_Firstname_COURSE_Content_SEMESTERex. Brugmann_Dustin_AD_Asn2_FA11 or Johnson_Matt_IA_Asn2_FA11

Plotting on your ownYou are welcomg to plot on your own anytime before the 09:00 deadline. If you miss the 09:00 deadline or if you choose to plot on your own, please be patient and wait for the submitted plots to finish printing before you begin.

EvaluationEvaluation is based on daily work in studio (process) 40% and final presentation (completion of assignment goals including: concept, context, function, completeness and presentation) 60%.

Overall Schedule

Fr Aug 23 13.15-17.00 Intro Assignment 1

Tu Aug 27 13.15-17.00 Studio - concept development

Fr Aug 30 13.15-17.00 Studio - concept development finalized

Tu Sep 3 13.15-17.00 Studio - architectural development

Tu Sep 10 13.15-17.00 Studio - architectural development

Fr Sep 13 13.15-17.00 Studio - architectural development finalized

Mo Sep 16 09.00 Plot submissions

22.00 Project due

Tu Sep 17 9.15-17.00 Final Presentation

We Sep 18 9.15-17.00 Final Presentation

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